Bring the Fire
Bring the Fire '''(or '''BtF) is''' Tani Coyote's '''first game since the early 2018 Choices and Chances, launched in June 2019. BtF utilizes a similar idea to Choices and Chances, combining randomness with some hardcoded mechanics, but with far less randomness and numbers to crunch. Mechanics For the first 8 turns, the map was composed of thousands of hexes, each serving as a province, until the Turn 9 update changed the map to be made of a few hundred provinces, each with a certain number of "polities" in them. Each state generates a certain amount of income (EP) and Action Points (AP) per turn. EP can be reinvested to generate more income, to buy territory, convert territories' religion, or increase military power (MP). AP can be used to instantly convert owned provinces or annex neutral provinces, or to upgrade demigods. Despite the existence of states, the core of gameplay is actually each state's demigods, with each state having three. Demigods have seven stats - HP, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma - and can each undertake an action per turn, with virtually no limits on these actions. Demigods can be upgraded each turn with a state's AP, and gain stats from successful actions. The area that states and demigods intersect is the religion mechanics of the game. Every province is assigned a faith, following either one of the six main gods, or Hexarchs, or a heathen faith. The more provinces that match the state religion, the faster that state accumulates Faith, which translates into more AP that can be used to upgrade demigods. In short, a central goal of BtF's gameplay is to maximize how many provinces are following one's god of choice. There are six gods. Every turn they bestow a boon upon one of the states that worship them, based on how much power the god has accumulated. All six gods are based on trickster deities and folkloric figures, and as they gain power, they can give greater benefits to their worshipers; a rough breakdown of their personalities and powers is as follows: Anansi. A shapeshifter whose true form is a spider but who takes the form of an African Wild Dog, Anansi favors just warfare. His powers are built around increased security performance for defensive operations. Coyote. A god who favors chaos, Coyote players are randomly assigned another god's power each turn. They also get rerolls for bad rolls... but there is no protection against a roll getting worse. Huehuecoyotl. A fellow coyote god, Huehuecoyotl does not care too much for formality, preferring indulgence and hedonism. Huehuecoyotl's worshippers receive Faith from provinces that don't follow the state religion, making him a great choice for expansionists. Huxian. A multi-tailed fox god, Huxian represents ambition. States that follow her can build up their economic power far more quickly. Reynard. The trickster fox of Western European legend, elevated to godhood, Reynard is pure libertine with no restrictions. In line with his libertine tendencies, he gives the characters of states that worship him a higher chance of success on all rolls... and in line with his amoral sociopath tendencies, he gives even more success if it's something underhanded like attacking an ally. Set. The desert storm god, Set is bloodthirsty. Whereas Anansi qualifies his support for violence with "justice," Set bestows military advantages upon anyone who follows him regardless of motivation. Story According to the prologue, Anansi the Just created a perfect, orderly world, strong with laws and justice. Huehuecoyotl enriched this world with pleasures and hedonism, and Huxian made the first people more ambitious, so that they would seek to improve upon Anansi's world. But there was a conspiracy with the three other gods. Coyote found Anansi's vision dull, so he cut many of the just warrior's threads, plunging the world into chaos and eliminating all its predictability. Reynard hijacked Huehuecoyotl's ideas, emphasizing how much more pleasure could be had with little regard for others. And Set whispered into the ears of the ambitious, making them view others with suspicion and creating a world of strife. The actions of Coyote and his conspirators are controversial, but many see them as having given mortals genuine freedom. Regardless, all six gods are venerated as the Hexarchy, the rulers of the world. Coyote is generally seen as the strongest god due to how he was able to undermine Anansi's authority, but he is also known for being the least invovled in global affairs. With Turn 2 and the dissolution of AWOL states, BtF's world took the form of seven major stats: the KPCR in Alaska, the New England Dominion, Magayo in the Caribbean, the United Goch Clans in Britain, the Empire of the Holy Flame in Greece, the Daylamite People's Republic in Iran, and the Kingdom of Valfian in India. Diplomatically, the early game was unevenful. Magayo, the KPCR, the DPR, and UGC formed the Tehuan Alliance, unifying the Coyote and Huehuecoyotl players, but its defensive nature seems to have kept it from becoming aggressive, and indeed, has kept the world at peace. With much of the world unclaimed, impetus for warfare was minimal. The Empire of the Holy Flame had minor disputes with both the UGC and DPR, but resolved both peacefully. Valfian placed a curse on the whole Indian Ocean that made it difficult for outsiders to colonize it, but nobody contested it. Since Turn 4, the game has been driven by quests into temples representing the Hexarchs. The first Temple was Anansi's, taking the form of a massive, spider-like structure floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean; its trials consisted of riddles and a battle against a giant spider made of water. The second Temple was Set's, emerging on an island in a sea of lava that consumed much of Egypt; its trials consisted of traps, monster battles, and a final boss battle against a possessed Anubis. The third Temple was Reynard's, consisting entirely of a series of traps; whoever reached Reynard first (in this case, Valfian) had to talk him into handing over a dagger that Reynard claimed had great power. Trivia *The name "Bring the Fire" stems from how all six main gods are based on tricksters, and how tricksters like Coyote and Prometheus are often the ones who bring fire to their respective peoples. *Loki is a trickster who is conspicuously missing from the game; Tani has said this is because of his association with Marvel films and how he wanted to give attention to lesser known tricksters. **In addition, Tani only wanted one European trickster, and wanted them to be an indisputable jerk. Reynard fit the bill. *With Anansi taking the appearance of an African Wild Dog, all six trickster gods are canine. While the game was in development, Thorvald had commented on how incredibly telling it was that the gods were doge.